All great things must come to an end.  I hope you have enjoyed visiting all the blogs that participated in the Grove Blog Hop.  Many talented designers brought in their "A" game to showcase these beautiful fabrics!  I love when you see so many different ideas on how to use the same fabric collection - I think these blog hops are a really great way to get everyone inspired and show off a fabric line!

That reminds me, I just got the word that my order for these beautiful fabrics has been filled, and I should have them arriving sometime next week (unless 4th of July causes a delay).  So, if you have been thinking about having some of The Grove goodness, now would be a great time to send me an email to preorder yours!


Making a Design

Those of you who own a software called Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) may like to "play" with it, just like I do.  Somedays I might be watching TV, but I like to not just watch TV, but make that time count even more.  That is when I turn my laptop on and start "playing" with my EQ8.  Many times, it is these play dates that will result in a new design that I will use later on.  So when I get a so-called design call from a fabric manufacturer, I pull from these "old" designs and see if some of them would work with the collection I'm working on.  It's kind of a win-win situation.  Something that I considered a playtime will actually help me out in the future!  Some of the designs you are about to see below came just from that - me having a playtime with my EQ8 while watching TV.

You now have seen a series of outstanding quilts made by my fellow designer friends and yours truly. I hope you have enjoyed seeing them and are inspired to try your hand in making either one of the quilts shown, or another design using these stunning fabrics!  It has been an honor to be associated with this great collection!  All I can say is that I truly love this collection, and Kathy Engle did a fantastic job in making this collection see the daylight!

I want to thank Shelly Watson from Wiggle Creek Designs, Tiffany Hayes from Needle in the Hayes Stack, Tracey Springer from The Busy Bee Quilter, and Toni Raynolds from Piecedperfection for making this blog hop come into reality and sharing their talents with you all by creating stunning masterpieces using The Grove Collection.  Also, I want to thank Island Batik team and Kathy Engle for allowing me to create with these beautiful fabrics - what an honor!  Lastly, I want to thank you all who faithfully visited each blog!  It has been awesome to have you participate in this!

If you haven't done so already, please head over to the Blog Hop for Quilters Facebook page.  Scroll down to the post where I'm asking you to name your top 5 favorite fabrics from the Grove collection and select your top choices.  One lucky participant will win half a yard cuts of their top 5 fabrics (need to either reside in the lower 48 states or have a mailing address in lower 48 states to win)!  But hurry, the contest ends at 11.59 PM Central time on June 28th, 2024!


Until next time,
Raija

But let's get back to these delicious fabrics.  Above you see a very interesting looking fellow (I think it might be a chameleon).  The inspiration for the colors for this collection came from its interesting and rather striking coloration.  I'm at awe of these brilliant colors!

Anyhow, I was totally smitten with these fabrics and couldn't wait to start designing quilts with them!  On this first post I will share the first three quilts that I made using this collection.  My final post on the 28th will reveal the rest of the quilts.  And in between this post and my last post you will see some of the amazing work that many of my fellow artists have produced!  You don't want to miss any of them!
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Anna Dorothea is named after my 8th Great Grandmother from my dad's side.  I often run into trouble coming up with names for my quilts, so when that happens, I have started to look into my genealogy to see if I can pick up a name for my pattern there.  I also think that it is a fun way to reach out to the past and honor those that came before us.

Now, back to this quilt.  I used Corner Pop II tool by Studio 180 Design to make the half rectangle units (required to make the quilt).  It allows these units to come out perfect with ease and speed!  I also used Stripology XL by Creative Grids to cut the strips that make up the imaginary nine patch units.  I find it speeds up the process of cutting strips into units by a great deal.  You just need to make sure to line up your strip sets accurately (I have a great way of doing this, and if you ever have a chance to take a class from me, I would be happy to show you how to do so).

This fun quilt pattern comes in three sizes: Baby, Lap, and Twin.  And below you can see how it looks with a light background!  I think they both are adorable!  If you are interested in getting this pattern, it is available on my website.  I will also be getting the collection fabric in soon, so if you are interested in a kit for this, please send me an email and mention the size and the name of the pattern (Anna Dorothea) in your email.

Bavaro was super fun to make.  In this quilt I got to use most of the fabrics from the collection!  You can see how well the colors look together!  This design also blends itself to do awesome custom quilting.  I, however, chose a tightly quilted edge to edge design by One Song Needle Art that I have used many times on my quilts simply because I love it so much!  And, to be honest, I wouldn't have had the time to custom quilt it due to deadlines.  But, if you don't have a deadline and have time, this quilt would lend a hand for you to create some amazing custom quilting! 

So, how did I make the blocks on this quilt?  Again, I turned into the tools by Studio 180 Design!  I used their Corner Beam, V Block, and Corner Pop tools to make sure I got the points looking awesome!

The pattern comes in three sizes: Table Runner, Lap, and Twin, and the pattern can be purchased here.  If you are interested in getting fabrics for this quilt, just email me!  I also have tools available and can make you a custom package to suit your needs!

Below are EQ8 renditions of the Table Runner and the Lap size quilts.

Last but not least for this blog post is Spiral Love.  I love the movement that this design creates, as if you had dropped something into the water and the ripples start forming and travelling away from it!

This quilt was fun to make - I got to play with many of the fabrics, and playing with the block placements until I was totally happy with the final version!  I don't know many other jobs there are where you can play for living! 

I decided to use eight of the collection fabrics to be the stars of this quilt, along with a dark background.  When making the blocks, I used Corner Pop tool by Studio 180 Design.  Below is an EQ8 rendition with the light background fabric.

If you like what you see, you can order the pattern from here.  Again, the fabrics will be arriving shortly.  If you would like to preorder a kit or the tool, send me an email before they are all gone!

If you like what you see, you can use a coupon code THEGROVE10 to take 10% off on the patterns that have the cover made from The Grove collection.  But hurry, this offer ends at the end of 6/28/24!

Also, please leave comments on each blog - it makes the bloggers feel appreciated. 

Here is the schedule for this Blog Hop.  Make sure to visit each blog as they each offer some amazing eye candy and more!

Sunday, 6/23/24: Quilters' Treasure Chest
Monday, 6/24/24: Wiggle Creek Designs 
Tuesday, 6/25/24: Needle in a Hayes Stack
Wednesday, 6/26/24: The Busy Bee Quilter
Thursday, 6/27/24: PiecedPerfection
Friday, 6/28/24: Quilters' Treasure Chest

Also, I just started a new Facebook page dedicated to Blog Hops for Quilters.  Make sure you check it out and like/follow the page, and while at it, please spread the word so everyone will get to enjoy it!

Have a wonderful Blog Hop and be inspired with The Grove Collection and the various beautiful creations you are about to see!

I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed following along the Limerick Blog Hop and I hope you have gotten many great ideas on how to use these delicious fabrics by Island Batik!  I personally am so grateful to all who contributed to the success of this blog hop!  I'm blown away by the talent of all the bloggers, both in terms of the magic they created, but also by the pictures they took, the videos they made, the posts they wrote, and even the poem one wrote!  What great talent!!!  Don't you think they deserve a round of applause?!!! 

And, of course, none of these creations would have been possible without the generous support from the home team, Island Batik, and their amazingly talented Kathy Engle who had a wonderful vision and made all these stunning batiks see the light of day!  Thank you!  I hope you consider making some of these projects using fabrics from this fantastic collection!

I have heard from many of you who participated in this Blog Hop - thank you for your kind words and thank you for checking out all the beautiful projects that have been created thus far from these amazing fabrics!  We all appreciate your participation!  I hope we have inspired you to either recreating one of our projects or use these fabrics to create one of your own projects!   Once you start using fabrics from the Limerick Collection, please share your project with us by tagging @quilterstreasurechest on both FB and IG, as well as using hashtag #Limerick!  If you don't have the fabrics to go with your project, you can buy yardage at your local quilt store or on my website.  My website sells them in half a yard increments. If you wish to buy the fabric as a kit, please email me the name of the pattern and the size that you would like to make and I will let you know the availability and the pricing.

I would like to remind you all about our giveaway!  Please comment on everyone's post (whenever that is an option) and follow us on FB and IG. More information and links to the other blogs are in my first Limerick Blog Post. I will be drawing three lucky winners on February 9th!

To wrap up this Blog Hop, I'm going to share with you the other designs I made using this collection:

I hope you have enjoyed reading along with Dona, Amy, Charisma, Toni, Nicole, Karla, Tracy, and myself!  Thank you for your support, and time that it has taken to participate in this Blog Hop!

If you want to buy a kit or some fabrics from this amazing batik collection, or any of the patterns that I designed to go with the collection, please reach out to your local quilt shop and ask if they have the fabric and patterns in stock.  If they don't, maybe they can order them for you.  You are also welcome to order the patterns and fabric from my website.  If you are interested in getting the exact yardage needed for a project, email me with your request (as a side note: I will be travelling between January 27 through February 4th with no access to my email or the internet.  Those inquiries/orders will be processed upon my return).

Remember to follow us on our social media channels to see what we are up to and be the first ones in the know.  And lastly, don't forget to leave a comment (the winners need to have left comments on all blog posts and followed everyone who made blog posts on this blog hop on social media) for your chance to win one of the three great prizes!

Until next time, 

Raija

Welcome to the Limerick Blog Hop!  Thank you for stopping by!!!  I can't wait for you to see everyone's beautiful creations!  So many talented people volunteered to participate in this Blog Hop and for that I'm so very grateful to them!  Thank you all for your time and creativity!  Make sure to check each day a new blog post made by these extraordinary artists based on the schedule below:

• Tuesday, 1/16/24 Raija Salomaa of Quilters' Treasure Chest and Dona McKenzie of DonaMcKenzie.com (shared Blog)
• Wednesday, 1/17/24 Amy B Costabile of Amy's Quilt Room
• Thursday, 1/18/24 Charisma Horton of Charisma's Corner
• Friday, 1/19/24 Toni Raynolds of PiecedPerfection
• Saturday, 1/20/24 Nicole Merriam of Heart of a Quilter
• Sunday, 1/21/24 Carla Alexiuk of Quilting by the River
• Monday, 1/22/24 Tracy O'Donnell of Tracy O Gotta Sew
• Tuesday, 1/23/24 Raija Salomaa of Quilters' Treasure Chest

​In addition to a lot of eye candy, you’ll have a chance to participate in an awesome giveaway!  The grand prize is a fat quarter bundle of the Limerick collection (the winner must reside in the continental USA).  The second prize is the winner's choice of four downloadable patterns featuring the Limerick collection by Quilters' Treasure Chest.  The third prize is the winner's choice of one downloadable pattern featuring the Limerick collection by Quilters' Treasure Chest.  The winners will be randomly selected on February 9th, 2024.  In Finland we happen to have “name days” and that day happens to be Raija's name day.  It's like an additional birthday without getting any older!  I think that is a great deal, don't you?  I will also be travelling soon after the blog hop concludes, so it will be easier to do the drawing once I get back.

You may wonder how you can win one of these fantastic prizes?  A good question.  You will need to visit and leave a comment on each blog post.  Then, if you have both a Facebook and Instagram account, we would like you to follow each business account (if the blogger provides you the information to do so).  Now, why do you need you to do that?  The answer is simple: We are all small businesses, and getting the word out about our businesses is vital for our survival so we can keep offering and producing new exciting things for you to make and use!  Besides, you will have a chance to be one of the first to see what is new in each of our businesses!  So I consider this as a win-win deal!  Don't forget also to follow the amazing company that has produced these beautiful fabrics (@islandbatik on Facebook and @Island_Batik on Instagram).  Which reminds me, you can follow me @quilterstreasurechest on both Facebook and Instagram.   Also, don't forget to share info about this Blog Hop on your own page and pages/groups that you belong to because a shared fun with quilting buddies is twice as much fun!

​Let's get back to this amazing collection and the projects that were made with the collection fabrics.  Dona McKenzie, who is one of the Certified Instructors for Studio 180 Design wanted to participate in this blog hop, but currently doesn't have her own blog.  So I'm sharing her project and what she said about it here:

​Dona: Living in California, where produce is gorgeous and Farmer’s Markets are everywhere, one cannot have enough bags.
It’s also a quick walk to the beach, where you need to bring a towel and snack, and your sunscreen!

In Raija’s Signature collection's gorgeous fabric, this adorable bag meets many of my needs. The beautiful blues and teals remind me of California skies and the Pacific Ocean. I used the Winslow Tote Pattern by Center Street Quilts and it was quick and easy to make. This batik is a dream to work with!

Raija: Thank you, Dona, for making this beautiful bag to showcase the lovely fabrics available in this collection!

I felt really honored when I was offered a Signature collection by Island Batik!  Limerick, my Signature collection, was designed by Kathy Engle.  And I think she did an absolutely fantastic job on all the design elements as well as the color selection for this collection.  The colors are so vibrant, and they go together so well!  And the designs are equally amazing with lovely knots and other intricate patterns mixed with some playful dots.

During my first blog post on this Blog Hop I would like to highlight one of my very favorite patterns: Treasures of St. Lucia (it comes as a downloadable or a printed pattern).  This pattern comes in three sizes: baby, lap, and twin.  The layout is the same for each of the sizes as only the block size and border size changes.  The quilt is made out of twelve blocks.  The way the units in each block are arranged gives the quilt a beautiful secondary design effect and it is hard to see where one block ends and the next one starts.  This quilt uses all twenty fabrics of the Limerick collection, giving it a truly harmonious and cohesive look. These stunning fabrics, in my opinion, make it look very elegant!  I just love this quilt so much and I think it would make a perfect quilt to make ​and keep or give to a loved one!

I'm a Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor.  As such, I often use their tools to produce the quilts that I make.  And such was the case with this quilt as well.  Can you guess which Studio 180 design tools I used with this design?  Why don't you play a detective and try to come up with the names of each tool that are required to make this quilt and leave your answer in the comments!  I can't wait to see what your guesses are!

Another Certified Instructor introduced me to Seam Align Temporary Glue - thank you, Jennifer!  This glue helps you big time to get all those points to match nicely with each other!  If you ever have a chance to take a class from me (I have some really fun events coming up, including several cruises, a retreat, an online class, and some special events, and you can also hire me to come and teach at your retreat, guild meeting, or at your store) I will show you how I use this glue.  And I bet it will become one of your best friends in a hurry!

I have an Innova longarm that I love dearly.  I quilt 99% of my own quilts, but sadly I don't have time to custom quilt much of anything.  What I have learned, though, is that custom quilting is not required to make a quilt to look like a million bucks. Carefully choosing the right quilting design (if you have a computerized longarm like I do) along with the perfect fabric and quilt design will give you a winning combination!  And I think, in my humble opinion, I have achieved that with this quilt.

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If you would like to get your hands on some of these gorgeous fabrics, ask your local quilt shop or download the Inquiry sheet here. 

Thank you for participating in the Limerick Blog Hop!  Don't forget to leave a comment and visit all of the other blogs in the appropriate days!  I will see you back here on the last day of our Blog Hop!

Since 2016 I have been truly blessed to be associated with an amazing company and special people in that company - Studio 180 Design!  I made the decision of becoming a Certified Studio 180 Design Instructor not really knowing what to expect.  Well, let me tell you.  That decision has been one of my very best decisions I have made since I quit my corporate job in hopes of starting my own business, focusing on quilt pattern designing and anything to do with quilts!  So, it is with such a pleasure and excitement that I'm writing this blog post, showcasing an outstanding new batik collection for Island Batik by Studio 180 Design team, called Exuberance!

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What attracted me to this collection was these wonderful, vivid colors, and wonderful movement on the designs!  I had to get my hands onto these fabrics and see them myself!  From my previous blog post you may recall I have been really busy (I mean, REALLY BUSY).  So I needed to choose a design that would nicely showcase these fabrics while making sure I could make the quilt REALLY FAST!  There was one design I recently made that was perfect for this purpose!

A week ago I finished teaching on a quilting cruise.  I had brought these precut fabrics with me in hopes to get an early start on making this quilt.  But...I should have known better, I didn't get much done.  I worked on it for half an hour on the wee hours of one evening.  And being so late at night (and having worked all day long), you guessed it, I ended up making some mistakes.  So I decided to set the project aside and wait until I would get home to get started.  So instead of sewing, I chose to concentrate on teaching, and yes, even relaxing a little bit while visiting this beautiful island, Perfect Day Coco Cay.
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Vendla's Play Date happens to be one of my favorite quilt patterns!  When I designed this quilt, I initially drew the block with a regular V Block surrounded by some rectangles on three of the sides.  While you certainly could make this quilt using this method that I initially came up with, it would mean there would be five different seams to each block. If I chose to do it that way, it would also mean I would need to be very careful with all of the points so I wouldn't lose them.
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And I wasn't too excited about that.  So, I decided to see if I could make this block with just two seams.  After playing for a little while with my favorite tool, the V Block tool, I developed a way to make this block (along with a block with a smaller center triangle) with only two seams!  Boy was I excited!

I used this method to make Vendla's Play Date (you can buy it here) with the beautiful Exuberance collection shown below.  Once you learn the technique, you can make this small quilt (42" x 53") super fast.  Don't you think it looks cute with these lovely new fabrics that are available at your local quilt store right now?  The quilt uses (17) 10" x 10" assorted precuts along with yardage for the background fabric.  There is very little matching, and the quilt comes together really fast.  It is a perfect pattern for making those last minute baby quilt gifts!  The more times you make it, the faster it gets as you get the new, floating V Block technique down!
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​So, you may ask how long did it take me to make this quilt.  What do you think?  Give me a guess?  Making the original quilt it took me just under two days (including quilting and binding it).  This was my second time making it.  And including the mistakes I made while cruising, and the resulting unstitching, I spend roughly a total of 14 hours, including quilting (with my longarm) and binding it from start to finish!  Now you understand why I say this is a super FAST quilt to make!

Again, to buy Vendla's Play Date, click here.  And get these wonderful fabrics now from your local quilt shop!

To get more eye candy and inspiration, make sure you visit all the participating blogs:

Deb Tucker started the Blog Hop on Sunday, followed by these designers:

• Monday, 3/27/23 Diana Man of Mugaboo Quilts
• Tuesday, 3/28/23 Tina Dillard of Quilting Affection Designs
• Wednesday, 3/29/23 Karen Overton The Quilt Rambler
• Thursday, 3/30/23 Phyllis Fay of Tucker University
• Friday, 3/31/23 Amy Costabile from Amy’s Quilt Room
• Saturday, 4/1/23 Raija Salomaa of Quilter’s Treasure Chest

​By the way, who knew going for a photo shoot can be dangerous.  It was a very windy day on Friday in Arkansas.  In fact, there were tornadoes raging in the other parts of this state.  Luckily, our part of the state was spared from tornadoes, but we had really strong winds.  A friend of mine and I arrived to Tanyard Creek amid strong winds to take some photos of some of my quilts.  As we set Vendla's Play Date quilt on the ground, we heard a very strange noise, and just around 10 yards from us we saw a tree shown on this pic fall down.  It scared the heck out of me!  Luckily we didn't get hurt, but it was a close call, a wayyy too close of a call!  As we left and started walking towards out cars, we saw some big tree branches blocking the trail.  Just half an hour earlier, as we had arrived, nothing was blocking the path....The moral of the story - you may think twice going in the middle of the trees on a windy day!

I don't know anything much better and more inspiring than being asked by one of your dear friends to participate in a blog hop showcasing a beautiful Island Batik Collection!  My friend Heidi has a beautiful Signature Collection called Chickadee that is now available at your local quilt stores and I was asked to design a precut friendly quilt showcasing these beautiful fabrics!  This collection has a range of rich colors from deep red to lime, from lovely blues to interesting oranges!

So, despite my plate being more than full, I couldn't resist in being part of this blog hop and design a quilt to go with it.

So, where did I begin?  Naturally, since the time was of extra value, I decided to turn into my favorite tool, which is a V Block tool by Studio 180 design.  I had recently come up with a cool method for another tool, and decided to apply similar concept to the V Block tool, keeping in mind that I was supposed to work with precuts (10" x 10" pieces of fabric).  I drafted a couple of block on my Electric Quilt 8 software program and started playing with the layout.

I loved what was happening in front of my eyes, and I was curious to see what would take place if I started to fill in the shapes with the beautiful fabrics from the Chickadee collection.  And, it didn't disappoint me!  Those fabrics looked like they were specifically made for this quilt!  After double and triple checking that this design really works with 10" x 10" squares, I was ready to cut into fabrics and to see how my newly created technique would work.

Well, guess what?  It turns out that there are many benefits using this technique!  The center points on the V Block triangle always come out perfect!  The technique saves time and fabric, as usually this shape you would have to sew four seams to a block, and now you only have two seams to sew!  One thing to keep in mind though - my new technique (floating V Blocks) differs a lot by how to use this amazing tool.  So, if you decide to give this technique a try, pay attention to the instructions!  Once you understand the technique, you will have truly a lot of fun making this quilt, and maybe designing many of your own!

What I also was amazed is how fast this quilt comes together: From the start (cutting the fabric) to finish (having quilted and binded this quilt) it only took me less than two days to make it!  Now, what could be better than to make a fun quilt that looks like you had spent much longer time on creating it, and to gift it to a deserving bundle of joy!  So, let's welcome Vendla's Play Date!

Vendla's Play Date is named after my 7th great grandparents, Vendla and Eric Mellsten.  They were born in the early 18th century in Finland.  They made their home in Inkoo, which is a Swedish speaking town in Southern Finland, about 45 minute ride west from Helsinki.  I have never been to Inkoo, but I have a trip planned to go to Finland this spring, and one of my hopes is to visit many ancestral towns in Finland that have come into light during this past year.  It is truly fun to discover where you come from!

If you would like to buy Vendla's Play Date pattern, I'm offering an introductory price of $8.00 until the end of February!  You can buy it by clicking here.

Don't forget to visit your local quilt store and to add some of this beautiful fabric into your fabric collection!  And, make sure to visit all the amazing designers who are participating in this blog hop.  Here are the blog addresses for all the blog posts:

The Whimsical Workshop
Needle in a Hayes Stack
Devoted Quilter
Studio R Quilts
Quilters' Treasure Chest
Katie Mae Quilter
Textile Time Travels
​Slice of Pi Quilts
Masterpiece Quilting
Utah Quilt Apppraiser
Tama​rinis
​Faith and Fabric​
Melissa Marginet

It is an honor to be asked to be a part of a Blog Hop showcasing a beautiful, new fabric collection for Island Batik!  Deb Tucker and her excellent team at Studio 180 Design came up with an outstanding collection of stunning fabrics with vibrant colors ranging from lovely oranges to luscious caramels and anything in between!   

My name is Raija Salomaa, I'm the owner and the creative mind behind Quilters' Treasure Chest.  I have been a Certified Instructor for Studio 180 Design now for 7 years.  I love designing, teaching, giving lectures at guilds, and cruising while teaching!  My go-to Studio 180 Design tool is the V Block tool.  Many of my patterns use this tool as it creates a fun unit that always adds something wonderful to the quilt design.

The theme for this blog hop was table runners.  That suited me well as I have been super busy lately and wouldn't have been able to participate if I had needed to create a regular-size quilt.  So, with that in mind (and after getting a reminder email from Studio 180 as I had been on a cruise when I got this invitation, and then totally forgot all about it) I decided to use the same design concept on the table runner as my lovely Gives Me Butterflies pattern uses.  

Announcing the Quick Quilt Pattern Bundle!  (click link here)
This bundle features 20 incredibly talented quilt designers. Yup - 20!! 

If you love fabric as much as I do… let’s say it’s highly collectable. Then you are going to find this collection of patterns soooo helpful. 

No more guessing if what you have on hand is going to work.  Every pattern is stash friendly. 
Whether that is little bits, larger fat quarters or leftover pieces in between.  

The Quick Quilt Pattern Bundle is only available for a few days, so you’ll want to grab your copy today.  

Like right now. (click here for the link)

This bundle is all about taking the guesswork out of - can I make a quick quilt that’s cute??

There are times when we just want to sew and finish something quick - and of course that’s cute too and uses our stash.

Everything is put together in one bundle letting you take the time to find the pattern instead of the fabric. 
I have a collection of these… as you may as well. 

The Quick Quilts Bundle features patterns that are all quilter experience friendly. 
No matter how long or short you’ve been sewing or how big or small your stash is, this pattern bundle is perfect to dig into and get sewing and finishing something quick!

You’ll not only be inspired by the variety of patterns and designers included, but you’ll be happy to dig through your stash and save money (not buying new fabric) and get it to the machine. 

The Quick Quilt Pattern Bundle includes 20 patterns from the same number of different designers for only $19.  You are correct - you will get one pattern each from 20 different amazing designers.  But hurry - this deal will not last.  It will be available only until the 9th of October, 2022. 
To purchase the pattern bundle, click here now!





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One of the most rewarding aspects of being a part of the quilting community is to get to admire some striking fabrics!  It is as if I'm reliving my childhood, being a kid in a candy store (I'm probably the person that would be in the Guinness Book of World Records of who has eaten the most candy in their lifetime, lol.  Luckily, 5 years ago I was finally able to put a stop to it).  What I love about fabric, though, is that, unlike candy, it doesn't add unwanted inches to your waistline and there are no negative health effects!  I can admire fabrics as much as I want to, and even touch and buy the ones that are calling my name, yet my health won't be put into jeopardy even if I overindulge in many of the fabrics that have caught my eye.  Now that is a great deal!

When it comes to color, I can remember being a 4 years old child and needing a winter jacket.  My parents took me to the city and off to a store we went.  My eye caught this beautiful winter jacket that was very purple.  It was truly love at first sight!  I recall my mom doubting that I would enjoy that color long-term, fearing that after just a couple of uses I would refuse to wear it again (purple wasn't a color that was very popular in those days, and we wouldn't have had the money to buy a replacement jacket).  Well, since I kept insisting that it was the exact jacket and the color I wanted my parents finally gave in. Purple has been my favorite color ever since!  

When Heidi Pridemore from Whimsical Workshop asked if I wanted to design a block for her Island Batik Signature Collection, seeing the fabrics and those beautiful purples, there was no way I would have been able to decline her offer!  Just see them yourself!  Aren't they just lovely!

I started to play with my EQ8 (an Electric Quilt program for designing quilts) and came up with something that I liked.  I emailed Heidi with the pic of the block I had come up with, and she in turned agreed to send me the fabrics needed to make it.  

A couple of months passed, and I hadn't yet started to make this block due to some other competing matters.  All of the sudden it was March, and I had been trying to help a person with a DNA connection to find her father.  Despite spending way too much time on the computer trying to find answers for her, I sadly wasn't able to solve this mystery.  All we knew that she was related to me from my mom's side.  Trying to help her, however, reignited my interest in finding my roots.  From my mom's side we have had quite a bit of information as several family trees have been compiled over the years by those who have had a keen interest and knowledge in our ancestors.  Yet sadly, with nothing else bu the DNA results to go by, I wasn't able to find our relative's dad as we had no idea how she was connected to us. 

I had always lacked information about my relatives from my dad's side.  Well, I should take that back as a year prior I had helped my cousin to research our dads' dad's (our grandfather had passed away during the war when my dad was only 5 years ago) side of the family for my uncle's 80th birthday.  But I never had been successful in tracking down my ancestors from my dad's mother's side.  All I knew that the family had moved to Kitee from Hame area of Finland around the turn of the century (~1900). 

In the evening of Pi day (3.14.22) I decided to spend some time clicking on Geni website in an effort to find my grandmother and her relatives (earlier tries had been unsuccessful).  To my surprise, someone must had entered her information there since my last search and I was about to stumble onto information that I had never been privy to.  That night changed my life!  I was able to trace my family history much further than most people are able to do.  I was literally blown away, gasping for air.  However, I knew that not all the information on this site is accurate, so despite my huge initial excitement I knew I had to take the information with a grain of salt. 

With a lot of research and help from various people (most of whom were total strangers to me), some things I was able to verify, while others not so much.  But what became apparent, however, is that I have a very unexpected ancestry, and I can't wait for the day when I have the time to sort everything out and verify the information on hand beyond the shadow of the doubt!

So what does this discovery have to do with this blog hop you may wonder?   Well, I wanted to "celebrate" my discoveries and make some changes to the quilt block I had designed to remind me of this special night, and the "secrets" that had been unearthed.  I decided to give this block (=mini quilt) a name that was fitting for the occasion.  I'm happy to introduce Coat of Arms to you!  I think it represents my discovery of my family heritage really well, with "diamonds" on the corners, with striking, "royal" colors throughout this quilt!  I can't even begin to tell how thrilled I'm of this quilt!  And what could be better than having a meaningful quilt with beautiful fabrics hanging on your wall, reminding you of something special!
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One of my all-time favorite Studio 180 Design tools is the V Block tool.  So it is no wonder that this quilt uses it.  My initial thought was to design this quilt so that one could learn to use many of the fantastic tools by Studio 180 Design without an overwhelming huge task of making a big quilt.  The other tools needed to make this quilt are: Square Squared, Corner Pop II, and Tucker Trimmer I.  If you haven't yet given a try to use these amazing tools, you must, as they will change your quilting life for the better!  How do I know that - well, they have completely changed my quilting life, and I'm now a proud Certified Instructor for these tools.  If you would like me to come and teach a class at your store/guild, I would be thrilled to do so!

​To see all the other beautiful creations made from this fabulous collection, make sure to visit all of the other designers' blogs.  Here are the names of all the designers and their respective blogs:

Blog Address Links
Heidi Pridemore    https://heidipridemore.blogspot.com/2022/09/blog-post.html
Leanne Parsons      https://www.devotedquilter.com/2022/09/storm-free-12-block-pattern.html
Tiffany Hayes         https://needleinahayesstack.blogspot.com/2022/09/woodcut-blossoms_01776719211.html
Tammy Silvers      https://tamarinis.typepad.com/tamarinis/2022/05/woodcut-blossoms-blog-hop-the-prickly-star-block.html
Laura Piland         https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/2022/07/woodcut-blossoms-blog-hop-free-woodcut.html
Kris Driessen       https://scrapdash.com/nightshade-quilt-pattern/
Jen Frost              https://faithandfabricdesign.com/2022/09/woodcut-blossoms-fabric.html  
Laureen McMurry Smith  https://tourmalinethymequilts.com/woodcut-blossoms/
Raija Salomaa      https://www.quilterstreasurechest.com/blog---raijas-bits-and-pieces   
Rebecca Lidstrom    https://www.studiorquilts.com/woodcut-blossoms-blog-hop
Laura Lindsay Strickland https://orangeblossomquilt.com/blog/f/woodcut-blossoms-blog-hop
Lissa LaGreca        https://lovinglylissa.com/2022/09/09/woodcut-blossoms-blog-hop/
Katie Mae Quilts    https://katiemaequilts.com/blog/woodcut-blossoms
Sandra Starley        https://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com/2022/09/woodcut-blossoms-blog-hop-free-patterns.html

Woodcut Blossoms is now available at a quilt store near you!  And, if you are interested in making my quilt, Coat of Arms, you are welcome to get a limited time complimentary pattern by signing up on my Newsletter below.  But please hurry, the complimentary copy is only available through 10/31/2022.

It is not every day that you get an email from Studio 180 Design team and are invited to provide mockups of designs using their brand-new batik collection for Island Batik.  But this actually happened to me on a quiet January 2021 day.  When I saw the digital images of this new Tranquility collection, I was in love!  Was it because this collection reminded me so much of my home country of Finland which has an abundance of beautiful nature, or was it the beautiful soothing colors and texture of the collection that whisked me away to dreamland?  Maybe it was a bit of both.  This collection beautifully captures the treasures of nature, from beautiful river rocks to ripples of water often seen after a playful throw of rock has been tossed into the lake.  

While working with these beautiful images one mockup stood out above all the others.  And that was a design named Gives Me Butterflies.  How fitting it was to use these beautiful, nature-inspired fabrics to create a quilt that also features nature.  Butterflies are such an important part of the beauty that surrounds us, so mixing these lovely fabrics with this pattern was like a match made in heaven!

The above four fabrics emerged as winners when I was playing with my EQ8 software in the quest to come up with the best possible mockup.  I think the mockup that spoke to me the most was soft and feminine, and it really represented the name of the collection quite well. Or what are your thoughts?

The soft neutral and pink make a wonderful background for the butterflies to spread their wings.  The darker two fabrics nicely represent the butterflies.  The pattern uses a V Block tool by Studio 180 Design to easily and accurately make all those butterflies.  Ready to make your own quilt using these beautiful fabrics and this fun pattern?  Visit your local quilt store to get started.  The pattern is also available on my website.

This post is part of a Blog Hop.  Make sure you visit all the other designer's Blogs and take part of the giveaway!  Here is the schedule and links to other participants:
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• Monday July 11th, Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Design
• Tuesday July 12th, Tina Dillard of Quilting Affections Designs
• Wednesday July 13th, Raija Salomaa of Quilter’s Treasure Chest That is me - so glad you found me!
• Thursday July 14th, Diana Mann of Murgaboo Quilts
• Friday July 15th, Studio 180 Design wrap up and giveaway

​Happy quilting!